We made seasonal villages on Otero Mesa. We hunted and gathered medicinal herbs, celebrated in ancient song and dance, intermarried with other Apache bands and we worshipped Usen, the creator of the heavens and the earth.

We are a proud monotheistic people. To us Apache, Otero Mesa is our cathedral.

No other ethnic people in North American history have suffered so much from stereotypes as the Apache.

We were described as â€œbloodthirsty savagesâ€ for defending our land from invaders who respected neither our culture nor our faith. Today we live on reservations hidden away to what is left to us of our beloved mountains and plains. Still we struggle.

For most of the past decade, a coalition of groups has worked successfully to safeguard the grasslands, wildlife and freshwater resources of Otero Mesa from full-scale oil and gas drilling. Now, however, a new and even more volatile threat has emerged for this sacred land â€“ hard rock mining.

A plan to mine for so-called â€œrare earthâ€ minerals has the potential to significantly alter this landscape, but what is rarer than this earth that we hold so sacred?

Just 60 miles south of Otero Mesa in Hudspeth County, Texas, a rare earth mine is already in the early stages of what will likely become a vast open-pit mine. Something of that magnitude has absolutely no place in the heart of Otero Mesa, and this is why it is our mission to support the movement to preserve Otero Mesa as a national monument and ensure that our ancestral homelands are protected.

Our advocacy group is comprised of Mescalero Apache traditional elders and community leaders.

Combined, we have experience serving on the tribal council and various tribal committees and youth programs. We are employed by our local school system and serve in law enforcement. We maintain a Mescalero Apache Mountain Spirit Dance group. As concerned citizens, we wish to share the sacred nature of Otero Mesa with not only our children but also with youths from all cultures and nations.

From World War I up through the present, thousands of Apache men and women fought as U.S. soldiers to protect not only America, but foreign lands from invasion. Now we respectfully ask President Obama, through the American Antiquities Act of 1906, to protect this precious piece of land as a national monument.